What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – February 21, 1993

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary, taped from Fresno, California.

Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship: High Energy (3-0) beat Money Incorporated (Champions) via disqualification at 6:08:

Conspicuous by his absence is Jimmy Hart. Heenan insists that Hart has not betrayed Money Incorporated, saying that Hart was only tending to Brutus Beefcake on Monday Night RAW to collect the screws and pieces that had fallen out of Beefcake’s face. The match turns out to be more about building an angle as Koko B. Ware hurts his knee on a blind charge into the turnbuckles and WWF officials carry him to the locker room. That turns the match into a handicap bout. The champions punish Owen with double teams and refuse to pin him. The referee tires of them pulling Owen up during pinning sequences and disqualifies them. This would turn out to be High Energy’s last televised tag team match together. At least they went out with a win! Rating: *½

The champions try to continue their assault on Owen after the bell but WWF Champion Bret Hart runs in and makes the save.

The Steiner Brothers (6-0) beat Gary Key & Larry Ludden when Scott pins Ludden after the Steinerizer at 1:58:

Key was a California-based wrestler who was used as an enhancement worker for Herb Abrams’ UWF in 1990. He made one WWF appearance in 1991, losing to Jake Roberts.

The Steiners wrestle a toned-down style versus what they do on Monday Night RAW, likely because they recognized the different audience makeups that attended these shows. The Steiners now have a match against the Headshrinkers for WrestleMania but Monsoon and Heenan prefer to talk about what is up with Jimmy Hart and Money Incorporated.

Crush (4-0) defeat Al Burke via submission to the head vice at 2:16:

Crush throws around Burke like a rag doll, which gets a few reactions from the crowd. Doink appears to have his work cut out for him at WrestleMania.

Lex Luger (2-0) beats Virgil (2-0) after a running forearm at 1:03:

Luger gets upset when the broadcast goes to commercial when he is posing. Monsoon raises an interesting analysis of Luger’s chances at WrestleMania, arguing that the mirrors that are in the hotel rooms at Caesar’s Palace will keep Luger up at night because he will not be able to stop looking at himself. Fans might think this could be a somewhat competitive match but all Luger does is bowl over Virgil with a clothesline and then knocks Virgil out with a running forearm. That allows Luger to pin the former Million Dollar champion with one finger. After the match, Luger does the old Ken Patera spinning full nelson move to his unconscious opponent to rub in his win.

Tune in next week to see Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels, Kamala, and Mr. Perfect in action!

The Last Word: It has been a while since Wrestling Challenge only had four matches. The end of the Tag Team title match made some fans think that they would be treated to a Hart Brothers-Money Incorporated match the following week but that was a dark match for fans that attended this taping. High Energy’s removal from the tag ranks creates an imbalanced division, so the WWF is going to need to bring in a new babyface team – or resurrect the Bushwhackers – to bring some order to it. Virgil’s singles stock plummeted on this show too. One may have thought at the time that Virgil was about to go back to his old ways now that Jimmy Hart has seemingly abandoned Ted DiBiase’s side.

The WWF returned to running “A” and “B” shows in the United States after the conclusion of its first European tour of the year. Here were the results of some of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Oshkosh, Wisconsin – Kolf Sports Center – February 17, 1993 (3,000): The Steiner Brothers beat the Beverly Brothers…Bob Backlund beat Papa Shango…El Matador defeated the Predator…Crush (substituting for Marty Jannetty) defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via disqualification. Sensational Sherri was in Crush’s corner for the match…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated beat the Nasty Boys…Virgil defeated Repo Man…Yokozuna pinned Randy Savage.

Chicago, Illinois – Rosemont Horizon – February 20, 1993 (5,500): El Matador beat the Predator…Virgil defeated Repo Man…Bob Backlund beat Papa Shango…Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via disqualification…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated beat the Nasty Boys…The Steiner Brothers defeated the Beverly Brothers…The Undertaker beat Yokozuna via disqualification.

Landover, Maryland – Capital Centre – February 20, 1993 (2,700): Damien Demento pinned Jim Powers with a neckbreaker at 11:00…Kamala beat Kim Chee with a splash at 4:00…The Headshrinkers defeated High Energy when Samu pinned Koko B. Ware after a thrust kick at 12:06…Mr. Perfect pinned Doink the Clown (substituting for Razor Ramon) with a Perfectplex at 18:00. Razor Ramon accompanied Doink to the ring and was on crutches…Tatanka pinned Skinner at 8:58…Typhoon beat the Brooklyn Brawler with the Tidal Wave at 4:32…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow with a victory roll at 15:00.

Backstage News*: FOX decided to cancel a pre-WrestleMania IX special that was scheduled to air on March 7. The WWF is now angling to get that show put on USA Network.

-The WWF will be adding a fifth pay-per-view to its schedule. It will take place in June in Dayton, Ohio.

-Former Intercontinental Champion Kerry Von Erich died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on his father’s ranch in Denton, Texas on February 18. He was 33 years old. Von Erich was facing prison time after being indicted for cocaine possession last month. He was serving a ten-year probation sentence for forging prescription drug prescriptions at the time of his death.

-In legal issues for the WWF, the Ultimate Warrior filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWF for $5 million. McMahon sued Phil Mushnick and The New York Post over allegations against he and the WWF that have been published over the last 19 months. The lawsuit against Geraldo Rivera may backfire as Entertainment Tonight ran a story on it Tuesday night, airing Rita Chatterton’s allegations against McMahon to a wider audience.

*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for March 1.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for February 22!